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Everyone has their own physical activity that makes them happy. For some, it might be Zumba, or basketball, or swimming, or running. For me, it’s Crossfit.
I love Crossfit! I love how strong and awesome it makes me feel, and how it has changed my body.
Crossfit has also changed my fitness goals, and helped me improve my health. I am one of those people who will say “Crossfit changed my life.”
When I began my fitness journey, it was mainly for aesthetic reasons, which is probably the most common reason that inspires others to start working out…they want to get that beach body, or blast those love handles, or get that six pack, and “look good naked.”
We want not just to feel good, but to feel good about ourselves.
This was me. When I started working out, I didn’t care about strength or endurance much, I just wanted to look good.
But then I started to get stronger, and able to withstand more. I liked the way it felt to pass up the 10 pound dumbbells and move to a higher weight.
And then I started CrossFit. I walked into the gym mainly thinking that it would help me achieve my physical goals. I mean, have you seen some of the CrossFit athletes? Like Jackie Perez or Christmas Abbott? They just look fit and strong.
And then I did the workout, which completely kicked my butt. I did a scaled version, but seeing the other athletes do the workout as prescribed and not die was inspiring! I wanted what they had! I wanted to be able to last a whole workout, and to be able to lift as much as they did. Or at least to lift more than an empty bar, I wanted to add weight to that bar.
So I stuck with it, and my goals started to change. As I got stronger, my goals grew higher. I wanted to be able to squat in the triple digits…and I was so excited the first time I squatted 100lbs! I wanted to be able to do kipping pull-ups without a resistance band..and when I did I was so proud of myself! I wanted to dead-lift 200lbs. I wanted to conquer double-unders.
Of course, I still wanted to “look good naked,” and I’ve been cleaning up my diet a lot to help me prepare for the wedding and honeymoon…gotta get that beach body!
But having someone tell me “You look great” isn’t quite as satisfying and someone telling me “You look strong,” or my coach commending me for adding more weight to my bar.
It has also changed how I feel about food. I always had a very sensitive relationship with food, which led to various eating disorders. But with Crossfit, I want to perform well. Now I look at food as fuel and nutrients my body needs. Gone are the days where I would restrict my calorie intake dangerously low, because I have seen how that affects my workouts. I can’t get stronger or build muscle if I am not feeding my body what it needs to strengthen that muscle. I can’t survive a workout without passing out if my intake is too low. If my goals in Crossfit are to get stronger and to increase my endurance, then I need to fuel my body appropriately.
And sure, I have days where I still feel a little insecure or pudgy, but I know that if I want to be able to squat 200lbs then I can’t drop my calorie intake too low. In the past, I might have dropped my intake to somewhere between 300-500 calories a day, which is terrible. Nowadays, the lowest I will drop is usually around 1400, but I normally consume more than that. I don’t just want to “look good naked,” I want to be strong!
Plus, it feels awesome when you start getting stronger! 🙂
